Buttons and Heartstrings
by LadyKira19
Summary: The war is finally over for the leaf village, but with the piles of damage left behind in the wars wake, hope is bleak for Naruto, Kira and the rest of leaf... until the prince of Altaria arrives with an offer of a lifetime.
1. Chapter one: A new set of problems

_And so it was set on the calendars of all great nations. It had almost officially been a year since the defeat of Madra Uchiha (Obito), and the end of the latest great ninja war. The four great nations were preparing a grand celebration in the land of fire. A meeting place where the festival followed by a great ball was to be held. All four Kages settled on the land of fire as a sort of half way point for the meeting, and so that not one nation had to carry out managing and hosting the greatest celebration rocking the shinobi world._

 _As the nations recovered both emotionally, physically and financially, the village hidden in the leaves was on the lower end of the recovery process. Seeing as how they lost the most men in battle and suffered the most damage before the war even started. Recovery was of course happening, but at a much slower pace. Something drastic needed to happen if they were to catch up with the other three nations...But what?_

"This paperwork is going to freakin' kill me!" Shouted a tired Lady Tsunade as she slammed her head down onto the desk full of paperwork. The load for both her and princess Kira was overwhelming due to recovery plans and financial plans for the leafs future mounting up. Kira looked on at her exhausted Hokage and offered her a hand. "If it would help you my Lady," She began to softly interject as Lady Tsunade slowly looked up at her with bags under her eyes from exhaustion. "If the work you are doing is appropriate for me to handle alone, allow me to go through it and..." She was cut off by the Hokage stacking piles of papers into her arms at a lighting speed. "You are truly a hero kid! No kidding!" She pushed the Princess out of the room and slammed the door before she could respond. Kira looked at the door for a moment and then back down at the stack of papers that was now taller than her 5"3 frame. "I guess I better at least look them over and sort them out by level of urgency.

An hour had past and Kira had not made it out for her usual lunch time of 3 o clock. This concerned her her best friends Naruto and Sakura. They decided to go check up on her and see what was happening. Sai stayed behind to collect lunch for the four of them to bring by shortly after. Naruto and Sakura approached her office door and knocked on it. The door flew open with Kira's apprentice and personal assistant, Nagato standing in front of them with concern on her face. The gray haired girl looked up at Naruto and Sakura with relief. "I'm glad your here," she said in her usual soft tone. "My lady is becoming very stressed." Naruto looked in and saw his best friend frantically flipping through pages. The friends stepped into the room and began to examine the high pile of papers both on the floor and on nearby desks. "Hey Kira, whats going on?" Asked a puzzled Naruto. The little Neko Princess slammed her hands on the table as she stood up from her seat. "It's much worse than I thought!" She exclaimed. Sakura approached her with a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "What is?" She asked with concern. "All of it!" Kira replied. "Lady Tsunade gave me some of the work she was doing to help lessen the load on herself, and I had no idea we had this many problems!" Naruto looked at her and approached her placing an arm around her shoulders. "Okay, we can help you solve the problems. What needs to be fixed first?" Kira looked up at him and then immediately pointed to the stack of papers that was now towering over his own height. "All of that is filed under the most urgent of issues."

Naruto and Sakura both shuttered as a knock was heard at the door. Nagato answered and in stepped a happy as usual Sai with a bag of four Bento boxes from Ichiraku Ramen. "I have lunch!" He chirped happily. He opened his eyes and saw his friends and teammates in a circle around Kira's office chair and saw the concerned expressions on all of their faces. "What did I miss?" He asked with caution in his tone.

The gang decided to have lunch outside in the picnic area of the Hokages mansion as they discussed the issues pressing the leaf. " We have so much debt it's not even funny." Kira began as she ate her rice ball in her Bento box. Naruto for once wasn't stuffing his face with ramen as he replied with a more serious tone. "This is bad, I can't believe grandma Tsunade didn't tell me of all people!"

Naruto was set up to be the next Hokage, however, he wouldn't be given the hat until the nation was put back where they needed to be. "And I can't even prepare to become Hokage until this whole mess is dealt with!" Sakura nudged his arm with a frown. "Never mind the stupid hat!" She cried with irritation. "The village needs help and none of the other nations can help us due to their own recovery." Kira sighed in response to Sakura's comment. "That's exactly what we need now." She added as she brought her hands up to her head to cup it with aggravation. "We need a fellowship of some kind. From somewhere that wasn't affected by the war." Sai Interjected with a sudden idea of his own. "Have you asked your father for help? He is the king of the land of roses is he not?" It's true that Kira's father was indeed the king of her homeland in the land of roses, but he had already given support to all four nations and provided emergency medical aid when they needed it. Her dad was too recovering from the war and was protecting his own people. " I can't ask him to do that Sai, he already helped all four nations with everything asked of him. He needs to care for his own people." Sai looked down in defeat and a bit of aggravation. "Well, aren't emotions fun to have in times like this." He replied with sadness in his voice.

The four friends kept discussing the issues until the sun began to set. Sai began walking Sakura home while Naruto saw to it that Kira made it back to her office. They walked back into the depressing sight and began to sort the papers into neat stacks according to specific issue. They finished about an hour later. "At least it looks better than before." Said Kira, trying to bring about some positive aspects of the current situation. She looked over at Naruto who looked both disappointed and angry with the situation. She placed a hand on his arm and gave him a warm smile. He looked over at his friend who he knew was also struggling, but appreciated that she was trying so hard to make him feel better. He couldn't help but smile back at her. "You know what to do to make me happy Kira." He replied opening his arms for a hug. The two embraced each other for a moment before Kira broke apart with a suggestion. "Stay over for the night. We can order food and watch some movies. We can handle the problems in the morning." Naruto smiled and nodded his head with excitement. "Sounds good to me!" The two exited the office and went next door to Kira's private chambers. The two watched movies until about midnight when Naruto finally fell asleep. Kira used her telekinetic jutsu to place his heavy body on the couch and then tucked him in with a blanket. She shut off the lights and headed off into her own bedroom.

There, she laid on top her covers with Kirara, her pet cat and battle companion alongside her. Kira looked down at her journal and finished the sentence before she placed the small leather book away on the nightstand beside her. She looked down at her pet and gave her a gentle pat on the head. "That's all we need isn't it?" Kirara tilted her head to the side and cooed in response. Kira, being of both human and neko races understood what Kirara was saying to her and replied softly. "We need a new alliance with a wealthy state. That would make our problems disappear much sooner." She turned the light off and got under her covers. "I just don't know who would do that after a great war..."

 _In a large kingdom known as Altaria, the news of the war ending was music to the countries ears._

A Servant in a gray suit and dark slicked hair ran down the hallways of the great castle frantically trying to find his master. He stopped at two cherry finished double doors and threw them open. There in the dim lit room was the prince of Altaria, Prince Roberto Button. He was at his desk reading a book when he was startled by the servants sudden emergence. "Hey Albert! What's the matter?!" He exclaimed with concern. Albert, the servant, caught his breath before responding to his master's question. "It's fine now, we can make the move if you would like too." Prince Roberto nearly fell out of his seat with excitement. His happy smile returned to his face as he ran to embrace his faithful butler. "Send word out to the village leader immediately! I want a meeting first thing tomorrow afternoon with the highest executives of the land!" Albert bowed and quickly left the room. There the prince squealed in excitement. "Finally! A new change of scenery! This will be great for the kingdom!

Part two is coming soon! I hope you enjoyed it!


	2. Chapter 2: The Invitation

The sun filled Kira's living room with bright light. The day had dawned and showed it's beauty on Naruto's face. His eyes began to open as the sun filled his vision. He sat up and saw that it was already eight thirty. His eyes widened as he hopped out of bed. He busted into the sleeping Neko's room and began to shake her sleeping body until she awoke with a shout. "What the hell dude!" she cried tying to push him off of her. "It's eight thirty! Don't you have appointments with villagers?" Kira looked at her calendar that sat by her bedside and pointed to the 'x' that was in the current dates box. "I took today off and rescheduled my appointments for tomorrow. I did that so we could look over the current situation this morning with Lady Tsunade." Naruto released her from his grip and took a sigh of relief. He sat down beside her with his head hanging low. Kira looked down at him and saw how stressed he was. "Hey," she said softly. "You need to cheer up! We'll be okay. I promise you. Let's have some breakfast with Sakura and Sai before we go see Lady Tsunade." Naruto looked at her and gave her a half grin. "I'm sorry, it's just discouraging. Everything that we've lived through and everything we are facing now is just a lot to handle." Kira embraced him from behind and buried her face into his back.

He was right, the war had taken a toll on everyone, especially Naruto. Kira, Sakura and Sai were fighting right alongside him and even after Sasuke joined in for the leaf, it was still a long and hard victory. She knew that Naruto fought hard and was even dubbed the next Hokage. However, this wasn't going to happen for him until the current issues were laid to rest. She knew that with this in mind, he was feeling both exhausted and discouraged. She held him tightly until he loosened up. He turned to face her with his usual cocky smile. "Your awesome, you know that? I know things will be okay! Let's go eat and then we can work on putting our home back together!" Kira jumped up happy to see her best friend feeling better. She hopped out of bed and headed for the bathroom. "I'll get ready now!"

After a nice hot breakfast at a small cafe, squad seven was ready to go tackle the leafs issues with the exception of Sasuke. He had left the village to go visit his brothers final resting place and collect his thoughts. It was probably wise to keep the heat off of him in a time like this. The gang made it back to the Hokages mansion and were greeted by Nagato and Shizune. They looked very excited and shocked at the same time. "there you are my lady!" Nagato shouted as she ran to hug her mistress. The gang stood a bit puzzled by this sudden reaction. Kira placed her arms around Nagato to embrace her back. "What's going on?" Nagato hopped back hardly being able to contain herself. Shizune motioned for the team to hurry inside. "It's better if Lady Tsunade explains the situation to you." With that, the team hurried inside the Hokages office, Naruto being the first one in. "Grandma! What's the news?!" Lady Tsunade looked up at the four anxious looking young adults and motioned for them to sit down. "Please sit down and listen to the latest message we received." The team sat down anxiously awaiting for her to begin. Tsunade unfolded the message and began to read it aloud.

 _Greetings leaders and high members of Konoha,_

 _My name is Prince Roberto Button, crown prince of Altaria. I am writing you today to ask that we meet on a matter of a proposed union of our two nations. I am aware that you have recently come out of a great war with a nice victory under your belt! I extend my warmest wishes for your recovery. I would like to meet with you this afternoon at four o clock if that is possible for you. I will be en-route to the area around three thirty with my caravan. Please respond before ten this morning so that I and yourselves can prepare adequately._

 _Regards,_

 _Prince Roberto Button_

All four members of squad seven were dumbfounded...Until Naruto broke the silence with a victory dance. "Yes!" He cried as he got up on Tsunades desk and began to do the worm. "This is the answer to the prayers we didn't say!" Kira interjected in a still soft tone. "I prayed for an answer." Lady Tsunade grabbed Naruto by the nose and threw him off of her desk. "Enough! Can't you see the time!" Squad seven looked at the clock and saw it was already nine twenty. "we have at least ten minutes to make a decision since the message will take over thirty minutes to reach Altaria even with a teleportation jutu." The happy smiles turned into concerned expressions once again. "Ten minutes?! We can't even alert the Jonin council!" Sai exclaimed. Tsunade nodded her head and then looked at Kira. "Kira, the decision needs to be made and you need to be the biggest enforcer of this decision alongside myself. Especially since we can't seek out the council of village elders at this point." Kira's heart sank as she gulped the lump out of her throat. "Oh boy, they won't be happy we are making such a decision without their consent. Much less that we will be asking them to attend a meeting with a prince from a land that isn't even a shinobi land." Sakura looked at Kira with a hint of curiosity. "Altaria isn't shinobi based?"Kira nodded her head in response. It is much like the Cresent Moon Kingdom and lands alike it. There is no Shinobi in it, but knights and swordsman as a substitute. Lands like this are wealthier due to it's formal and intimidating militia and polished royal families with years of leadership under their belts." She continued with some wonder in her tone. "It's actually quite odd that he wishes to extend a fellowship with a nation the complete opposite of his own. I don't know what he would want from us."

Lady Tsunade agreed with the Neko's words. "I concur, but still, there is a possibility that he can help us rebuild and thus, help us move forward with the future pans of the village. Such as creating the new schools we need, money for our emergency reserve, rebuilding and of course.." she looked at Naruto as she finished her sentence. "Bring in the new Hokage so that I may retire with ease." Naruto fell to the floor with those words and stayed speechless while the others went on with their decision making. The time was now nine twenty seven. "Well?" Lady Tsunade spoke sharply. Kira looked at her nervously. "I have an answer for you." She looked at her friend and all three nodded their heads in agreement. Kira looked back the Tsunade pen in hand. "Go ahead and reply to him." Kira handed the Hokage the pen. Tsunade took it from her and quickly began to pen out the response.

Meanwhile in Altaria, Prince Roberto sat at his desk with his servant Al standing by the window awaiting the messenger pigeon to arrive back with a response. It was going to be nine fifty eight at this point. Alberto looked at his master with concern. Roberto's eyes didn't leave the clock as he anxiously watched the time become nine-fifty nine. "Oh no! One more minute Al! What if the answer is no!" Roberto's head fell on his desk as he began to twiddle his thumbs. Al was about to go console his master until a cloud of smoke appeared before them on the desk. Roberto and Alberto's attention was quickly turned to the small cloud slowly dissipating revealing a small yellow haired cat with red eyes and two tails. She had a message in her mouth and the leaf symbol on her bandanna around her neck as a sign she was from Konoha. "A messenger kitty!" Roberto cried as he took the message out of her mouth. He pat her on the head as she purred softly. Roberto handed the message to Al with excitement. "You read it! I don't think I can without becoming giddy!" Al rolled his eyes and opened the message to read it aloud. "Your already giddy your highness." Al cleared his throat and began to read the response.

 _Dear your royal highness Prince Roberto Button of Altaria,_

 _We the Hokage and Princess of Konoha would be glad to accept your invitation for a possible alliance with your nation. We ask that when you arrive to the village that you come to the Hokage's mansion and meet us in the banquet hall for the meeting. We will have our gate keepers escort you to the mansion where you will then be escorted by our security team to the meeting spot. We will keep your arrival off the radar for now with the rest of the village until a decision is made. Please feel free to stay the night if you grow tired. We will prepare a place for you at the mansion if you choose to do so._

 _We are looking forward to the meeting._

 _Regards,_

 _Lady Tsunade, Hokage of Konoha and Lady Kira Hariyama, princess of Konoha._

Al's eyes widened as he finished the letter. He looked down where his master was sitting and saw he was gone. He looked around the room until he saw Roberto dancing with Kirara happily. "Yay! They'll meet with me! Thank you Kitty!" He let Kirara down as she meowed happily. She disappeared in the same smoke leaving the two men behind. "Sir! Compose yourself!" Alberto cried with a stomp of his shoe. The prince composed himself and smiled brightly. "Let us prepare for the journey! Pack adequately Al! You will be coming with me as my right hand man!" Al's eyes widened with contained excitement to the princes request to have him accompany him on the trip."Oh, as you wish your highness!" Al hurried out of the room to prepare the caravan.

Back in the leaf, Kirara re-appeared to the awaiting shinobi with a happy meow. Kira picked her up and nuzzled her. "She said that the prince is very excited and will be here soon!" Kira chirped happily. All of the room stood up at once as Tsunade barked orders. "Sakura! Go help Shizune prepare a room for the prince! Naruto, Sai! You two prepare the guards for the arrival of the prince, but do not tell anybody! I also want you to help prepare the meeting in the banquet hall!" She turned to look at Kira. "You and I must go to the council and get them on board with this meeting. Regardless, this meeting is happening and we need to be ready." Kira nodded her head and got behind the Hokage as she began to exit the room. Nagato followed close behind. "Everyone! Let's make this happen!" The Hokage cried. "Right!" Squad seven replied in unison. The time of the meeting was coming close and with little time to prepare, the few people involved were frantic to have everything perfect for prince Roberto's arrival.

The next chapter is coming your way!


	3. Chapter 3: The Arrival

Squad seven was working quickly and discretely as possible for the arrival of Prince Roberto and his caravan. It was about 2:30 when the preparations were nearly completed. Naruto and Sai emerged out of the banquet hall sweating and out of breath. "Man!"Naruto exclaimed between pants. "That room is so big! All for one guy!" Sai at this point was sprawled on the ground with his arms widened to get as much air as possible. By this time, Lady Tsunade and Kira appeared from their meeting with the village elders. Tsunade ran past the two boys for her room. "I need to get ready! Kira, you do the same!" Kira gave a wave in acknowledgment so that she could catch her breath. Naruto looked down at his friend who was too hunched over from exhaustion. "Did you guys run back?" Asked Naruto with concern. "We did! It literally took from ten this morning until now to convince them to come to the meeting with an open mind." Kira straightened herself up and dusted herself off. "Needless to say they weren't happy we made such a brash decision without their approval." Sai crossed his arms and retorted with slight irritation. "Well, it isn't even their place to make all of the decisions am I right? The Hokage is the one who has the final say. Even you have more power then they do Kira." "I do, but it is still important to have a council. It is a way to have a checks and balances system if you will." Kira replied with a sigh. "I suppose I better go prepare for the arrival. You two get yourselves cleaned up and ready to greet them." As Kira walked away towards her room, both boys cried in unison at her. "Wait? We have to escort him!" Kira looked back as she continued forward. "Yeah, the gatekeepers aren't well today, you'll need to escort the caravan. Remember, don't embarrass us!" With that, she disappeared around the corner of the long hallway. Naruto and Sai looked at each other as they started for their homes defeated. "See you in an hour!" Sai cried as he ran down an alleyway. Naruto was about to head home himself when he realized he left his stuff at Kira's home. "Oh man! I need to get back to Kira's!" With that, he was gone in a hurry.

"The cherry blossoms are in full bloom in this part of the forest. The greenery is magnificent. It's as if I have walked into a fairy tale world." Al writes in his journal as the carriage carries both him, the prince and all of the company needed for the journey. Prince Roberto looks out the window with smiles plastered all over his face. Eager to get out and start exploring. "This is perfect Al!" Roberto exclaims with excitement. "We picked the right place indeed!" Alberto nods in agreement and quickly shuts his book. "Driver! How much longer?" The driver of the head carriage replies back with a happy chirp. "Ten minutes my good man!" With that, prince Roberto is practically falling out of his seat. "Wonderful! I must be ready for our meeting! Al, hold the mirror up so that I can fix my hair. It is a bit more humid than I expected." Al obeys and quickly holds a mirror up for his master to use. Roberto picks and prods his hair with tender care ensuring he is ready for the meeting. "I'm still a bit nervous, but I'm sure it will all be worth it!" Roberto cries happily. "Indeed your highness." Al agrees with a smile.

It's three twenty six and both Naruto and Sai are standing in the entrance of the village's north gate dressed in black silk robes. The wind was blowing a bit more furiously for the past ten minutes making their robes almost go over their heads. "We look like a couple of jackasses!" Naruto exclaimed struggling to hold his robe down. "I don't know," Sai continues. "I think I like the breeze." Naruto gives his friend a weird look when they are all of the sudden interrupted by Sakura quickly approaching them. She had on a bright pink kimono and her hair was fixed up with cherry blossoms of a darker pink shade. "Hey! Are they here yet!?" She asked eagerly. "No, but any minute now we should see their party arrive." Sai replied with a smile. Sakura grins and chirps happily. "Great! Maybe we can actually get them on board and fix our problems altogether!" Suddenly, all three friends hear the sound of trumpets in the distance. This was the signal that the prince was quickly coming into the village border. "Sounds like their here now." Naruto said rubbing his hands together eagerly. Sakura begins to hurry back to the Hokages mansion. "I'll be waiting to escort him to the banquet hall! Let me know when you guys are almost there!" Both boys nodded and turned to greet their royal guest.

The first of the four car caravan was soon appearing in the distance. Naruto and Sai straighten themselves up and puff our their chests. "Royalty! I have not dealt with much of it. Only the Hokage and Kira really." Sai says nervously. Naruto looks over at his friend with a goofy grin. "Don't worry about it Sai! They are people just like us! He's gonna be no different than me or you!" As Naruto finished his reply. The first caravan was slowly coming to a stop at the gate with the other three close behind it. Naruto is the first to approach the grand carriage and awaits for the driver to unroll the window. The window slowly rolls down and a hand sticks out pointing for him to go to the second carriage behind it. Naruto is a bit puzzled but obeys the instructions of the hand. He motions for Sai to follow him and makes his way to the second carriage. Both he and Sai wait for the window to roll down revealing a chestnut haired young man about their age with a happy smile on his face. "Greetings gentlemen! I am prince Roberto of Altaria! But you can call me Rob if you want too!" Naruto is surprised at Roberto's kind gesture. " _Wow, most royal people I meet are jerks but not this guy!"_ Naruto thinks to himself. Sai is the first to extend a hand to the young prince. "Very nice to meet you Rob! Welcome to our village!" Roberto sticks a hand out and shakes Sai's happily. "Warmest of welcomes back to you good sir!" Naruto quickly joins in and shakes the princes hand forcefully. "Hey Rob! I'm Naruto! And this guy here is Sai!" Roberto blushes as he becomes excited that he has already made new friends. "Wonderful to meet you both!" Al suddenly emerges from the back of the car and clears his throat. "Gentlmen, I believe the Hokage and Princess are awaiting us. Will you please show us the way? I assume by the robes that you were sent here to take us to the meeting spot." Naruto and Sai slap themselves back into their realities and bow briefly. "Sorry! Naruto cries. "We'll show you the way!" The two boys get in front of the caravans and begin to guide them to the mansion. As they went along however, many villagers were curious as to who the mystery man was that was coming into the village.

Back at the mansion, Sakura and Shizune were both pacing back and forth waiting for the caravan to arrive. Sakura had just received word that the caravan was only minutes away. "Okay! Almost here!" Sakura says with a sigh. "This will be worth it!" Shizune, holding a nervous looking tonton nods in agreement. "While you escort the prince into the banquet hall, I'm going to go get Lady Tsunade and have her ready inside for him." Shizune quickly disappears down the hall leaving Sakura alone. That is, until Kira emerges from her room. Sakura turns to her friend and gasps at how dolled up Kira is for this meeting. She is wearing a black and red Kimono with her hair in a single braid and fixed up in a bun. She was wearing one of her small silver crowns designed for Neko royalty. She wore three earrings pairs in her ears all glittering sparkly white of the local mountain crystals. Kira begins to turn around and show off every angle of her outfit. "Well? Is it too much?" She asked nervously. Sakura approaches her friend and hugs her. "You look like a bride!" She replies happily. "Oh no,i t's too much then." Kira retorted back. Suddenly, the same trumpets were heard and four carriages led by Naruto and Sai emerged from the clearing. "Alright, I'm going to the hall with Lady Tsunade. See you soon." Kira says as she hurries for the banquet hall. Sakura turns back to see the caravan and then notices a band of twenty villagers following the caravan. "Uh oh!" She cried. She began to hurry down to the courtyard where the princes company was parking their carriages.

Sakura made her way down the steps of the grand mansion and see's Naruto and Sai pushing the villagers back. "Okay guys! Nothing to see here! Just some guests here to see the Hokage!" Naruto cries. "But who are they?" One man yelled from the back of the crowd. "Nobody!" Naruto replies in an angry and irritated tone. "Back off!" The man pushes himself into the front of the crowd with a balled up fist. "What did you say punk!" He cried angrily. Sakura gasps and rolls up her sleeve ready to strike the man as she quickly tries to get in between the two hot headed men. Then, a calm voice is heard followed by a hand being placed gently on the angry strangers fist. The man, Sakura and Naruto look to see the owner of both. It was none other than prince Roberto. "Hey now, were all gentlemen here. I'm only here to visit is all." His tone subdued the man and made him walk away in embarrassment. The prince looked over at Sakura and takes her balled up fist into his hand and kisses it gently. "What a lovely dove you are! I am Prince Roberto, but you can call me Rob if you want too!" Sakura is left speehless. The man was both brash, handsome and sweet. She brings herself to reply nervously with a blush." Oh hi! I'm Sakura! Nice to meet you too your highness!" Roberto releases her hand and shakes his head. "Nope! No formalities! I am one of you! Please treat me the same as you would your friends here!" Sakura is surprised by his response but is relieved that he is as down to earth as he is. "Right! Please, let me show you the way to the meeting hall." She quickly walks up ahead of the party as Roberto, Al and a few gentlemen in suits follow after her, leaving the boys behind with their fingers crossed. "I hope this works out!" Naruto exclaims biting his nails.


	4. Chapter 4: An Eager Proposal

Sakura and Prince Roberto's company approached two giant pine wood doors. She knocked on it loudly and heard Lady Tsunade's powerful voice reply back. "Come on in!" Sakura pushed the doors open and lead the party into the room. Prince Roberto stepped in and looked around in wonder at the natural yet regal looking banquet hall. There was a beautiful open skylight where tall tree's were seen towering over the structure and birds were also seen flying back and forth between tree's chirping loudly. The room itself looked as if it was hollowed out of a tree trunk. In fact, the walls even displayed rings signifying that this very well might have been the case. Roberto couldn't help but stand completely still in awe. "Hello your highness." A quiet voice was heard coming straight ahead from him. Roberto quickly looks forward to see who the owner of the voice was. His eyes widened as his jaw slightly droped. There stood before him was a young woman dressed in black and red. Kira looked at him with a smile as she approached the young Prince. He was captivated by her eyes. He had never seen a woman with two different colors to them and certainly not the combination of one blue and one red. He was spellbound. She was soon standing before him and bowed gracefully. "It is an honor to have you here in our village. I am Lady Kira Hariyama." As Kira straightened herself up from her bow she soon saw the prince on one knee and gently cupping her small hand in his. His head bowed over the two tangled hands before he gave it a soft warm kiss. "I am honored to be here princess, I am Prince Roberto but..." The Prince became speechless. Unable to finish his quip he had been using all day. He couldn't bring himself to speak easily with her. Kira looked down at him awaiting for him to finish his sentence.

Then Prince Roberto finally got the courage to look up at her only to become flushed by her wide and bright eyes looking back down at him with a curious look on her face. Roberto soon became blushed red on the cheeks at the sight of her stares. "Please forgive me!" He struggled to muster. "It has been quite the journey for me you see!" Kira smiled and help's him to his feet. "It is well your highness! Please take a seat and relax!" Kira released her hand from his and began making her way back to her seat. The Prince couldn't help but stare at her as she walked away. " _What came over me just now?"_ His thoughts were interrupted by Lady Tsunade coming forward to meet him. "Your highness, I am Lady Tsunade. I am the Hokage of the leaf. It is an honor to have you here with us today." Roberto quickly grabbed her hand and kissed it gently as he did before with Sakura. "It is an honor my Lady. I am Prince Roberto of Altaria! Thank you for meeting with me today on this matter." Roberto replied back with his usual happy demeanor.

Kira and Sakura were both seated at the table as they watched the two leaders speak back and forth with each other. "He's not what I was expecting. "Kira stated with a smile. Sakura nudged her friend with a raised brow and a half smile. "I think he thought you were cute!" Kira looked at her friend sharply and placed a finger over her mouth. "None of that Sakura!"She whispered angrily. "This is business! Not pleasure!" Sakura pouted as Nagato who was standing beside her mistress couldn't help but laugh at Kira's response. Sakura pushed the finger away and finished where she left off. "I'm just saying that he is a real gentleman and it's nice he took a notice to you the way he did." Kira brushed off the comment and looked over her papers she had before her.

The meeting was now set to take place. After the Prince greeted the village elders and the Jonin council, he took his seat beside Alberto and his band of suit clad bodyguards and advisers to begin the discussion. Kakashi sat among the council with a curious look. "I wonder what his purpose is here today." Kakashi said to his budding rival, Might Guy, who sat beside him with his usual goofy grin. "It must be important. If this meeting was assembled this soon." Guy replied back. The Hokage cleared her throat and arose from her seat as she began to speak. "Your highness, we the high council of the leaf received the letter you penned this morning and felt that there was some urgency for a response. Please, present to us what it is you would like to discuss." Prince Roberto stood from his seat and cleared his throat softly before he began. "Right." He continued. "I am aware that you must not know much of me or my homeland of Altaria. We are a large kingdom that is not familiar with the shinobi lifestyle. However, I do not wish for that to be a dividing factor." Alberto handed a piece of paper filled with statements the prince wrote down to ensure he would not miss a single important fact. It was not often that he would bring himself out to create unities between his land and others. He looked over his notes and continued speaking. "I am here today to ask that we become allies. I ask this because I wish to expand my land north west of your border." The council looked around at one another before Kira spoke up. "Why is it that you wish to expand by our land?" Roberto looked at her and felt sweat fall from his brow. Alberto, seeing his master behaving unusually spoke in his place. "My Lady, we have traveled in this direction before many times and have seen that this land would not only be a great place to expand the kingdom of Altaria but to allow us to become accustomed to the shinobi lifestyle." Alberto continued as his master took several gulps of his water he was given by one of the maids. " Your people live such happy yet simple lives. Nature and it's beauty are overflowing here. We have seen nothing like this land. In addition to this, we understand that you have recently come out of a large war. Your militia is quite strong much like ours. It would be a great deal of protection for both lands involved."

Lady Tsunade looked down from her high chair at Sakura and Kira both beaming with where the conversation was going. Lady Tsunade replied back to Alberto with her hands under her chin. "What is it that we would gain from you besides another alliance? I am open to becoming friends with your royal highness Alberto, but as you mentioned, we have just come out of a big war almost a year ago. Our land and it's people are still recovering from the aftermath of it all. Supporting your development would be difficult on us right now. Not to mention the peaceful report we would have to establish with your people and you to ours." Alberto was about to reply when suddenly, Prince Roberto stood up and waved a hand to signal Al to allow him to speak. Al bowed gracefully and allowed his master to continue. "My Lady, this would be a treaty that goes both ways. I wish to help you get back on your feet so long as you are willing to allow me the land northwest of your border up to a mile of the boundary line of the north gate we arrived in from." Lady Tsunade's eyes widen from his offer of financial help. Both Sakura and Kira were trying hard to not jump from their seats at his offer. Lady Tsunade continued with the proposal. "I do know if you know how much repair work we need on our structures nor the money we are in debt to other villages. It is to the point that our reserve has been depleted." Roberto raised an eyebrow. "How much are you in debt?" Lady Tsunade handed a paper containing the debts and expenses she and Kira put together for the meeting and handed it to Shizune. She quickly ran the paper to Roberto and handed it to him. He carefully examined the document and chuckled. "This is not what I expected! This much I can easily give you!" With that, Lady Tsunade's face lit up with excitement and to her surprise, the elders had the same expressions. Kira was about to sing with joy when she saw Lady Tsunade look down at her. "Kira, what do you think? You are after all in charge of most of the recovery process." Kira's face turned red. " _Did she really have to put me on the spot like this!?"_ Kira looked at the crowds of faces looking intently at her. Roberto's gentle face looking over at her with a smile. She couldn't help but smile back. He was so nice and willing to help them out. Even though he didn't know them well.

She stood up from her chair and began to give her answer to the quiet room. "I am in favor of this proposal. I feel it is fair in nature and it would benefit both parties as Prince Roberto stated." The room gasped at Kira's response. The elders didn't speak a word. Their silence told the Hokage that they would allow for the Prince to build on the border lands. Tsunade looked over at Kakashi and the rest of the Jonin council who gave her a thumbs up in response. Tsunade stood from her seat and extended a hand out to the prince. "Then it's settled. My council has spoken and thereby I will deliver the final verdict." Prince Roberto smiled and stood from his seat as well and stretched his hand to meet her's. "We have a deal, don't we!?" Roberto replied eagerly. Tsunade smiled and shook his hand. "We have ourselves an alliance!" The room applauded with delight at the new found alliance between Altaria and the Leaf.

 _And so there was a new alliance between the leaf and Altaria. Never in history was an alliance between a shinobi land and a non-shinobi land made in a way such as this. Without conflict, without senseless arguments over land nor with months or even years of debate. Now the stage was set for the recovery of the leaf village._

A few hours after the meeting adjourned, Naruto and Sai returned back to the mansion excited with the new alliance. Word would quickly spread throughout the village and in Altaria in the days to come. Naruto knocked loudly on Lady Tsunades door and continued until the door finally opened up. "Get in here and stop making so much noise!" The angry Hokage shouted at the young blonde man. Naruto and Sai hurried into the room where Sakura and Kira stood by to meet them. Naruto embraced Kira and exclaimed his happiness. "I can't believe it! This is great!" Kira hugged back and happily replied. "Yes, and the prince is very nice." Sakura held her hands to her cheeks and reminisced the memory of his greetings to both her and Kira. "Yes he is quite the charmer! But he was especially interested in a certain brunette!" Kira looked back at her with a blush as a tick mark appeared on her temple. Naruto looked over at Sakura with a confused expression. "Sakura, I don't think he has a thing for Sai." The room looked at him with amazement of how he concluded that Sai is whom Sakura was talking about. "Never mind Naruto," Sakura replied. "I'll tell you later." Tsunade interrupted with new orders she had for the four shinobi standing in the room. "Well, since we have signed the peace treaty. It's important that we help the prince as much as possible." All eyes fell on the Hokage as she continued to speak. "Naruto, you and Sai will help Prince Roberto acquaint himself to our land." She then turned to Sakura. "Sakura, I want you to go and help Roberto's builders with reconstruction. He is willing to help us rebuild while he begins construction of his own structures." Sakura bowed. "Yes ma'me!" She replied with a salute. She finally turned to Kira. "Kira, you play a large roll in this development of friendship between our lands." Kira looked at the Hokage a bit nervous with where this conversation was going. "Oversee that the relations are going smoothly and in addition to this, I want you to assist the Prince in anyway you can. You two are equals and it is important that you and him establish a friendship before anyone else will get on board." Kira began to blush as she heard the orders of her Hokage. " _Oh man, why did she have to make me his personal assistant? That's pretty much what I am now!"_ Nevertheless, she bowed and accepted her orders. "I will help as much as I can in between my normal duties.

Lady Tsunade dismissed the four shinobi and took a heavy sigh of relief. "Oh yeah Shizune!" She cried as she stretched herself our on her desk. "We made a great call today." Shizune nodded with a smile. "Yes, and I know this will make not only our economy better but our relations with other places will improve." Meanwhile, Kira was walking down the hall towards her office when she was stopped by a tall dark figure who blocked her way to the door of her office. She gasped as a hand reached out towards her.

Chapter five will be coming soon! Also, be sure to check out my forum for news and updates on this story and others.


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